British Urban Film Festival (BUFF), the leading BAME film festival in the UK, today announce BBC Films is set to sponsor its showpiece film awards in September.

The deal marks the first time that the two organisations have worked together. Previously, the festival has had on-air partnerships with Channel 4, London Live (ESTV), Community Channel (Media Trust) and Showcase TV on Sky. The second annual British Urban Film Festival awards will take place at Hilton Tower Bridge on 18th September in London.

The ceremony (to be hosted by Adam Deacon and Femi Oyeniran) will award writers, producers and directors whose work has been showcased by BUFF over the past 12 months.

“We are proud to be part of the British Urban Festival and look forward to celebrating all ofthe fantastic talent involved.” said head of BBC Films Christine Langan.

Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe, the founder and CEO of BUFF, added “This deal signals the start of an exciting new era. In 2015 we celebrated our 10th anniversary with the first ever BUFF awards. That event plus the long and illustrious history of the festival shows how far we have come in championing diversity. The BBC has an integral role to play in showcasing talent within the diversity spectrum and we are delighted by their passion and their commitment to the British Urban Film Festival.”

BBC Films is at the forefront of independent filmmaking in the UK, developing and co-producing around twelve films a year. Headed up by Christine Langan, BBC Films was awarded the Michael Balcon BAFTA for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema in 2015.

Upcoming releases include Ricky Gervais’ David Brent: Life on the Road (in cinemas on 19th August), and Philippa Lowthorpe’s Swallows and Amazons (also in cinemas on 19th August). Films currently in production include Amma Asante’s A United Kingdom, Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake, winner of the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or 2016, Ritesh Batra’s The Sense of an Ending, Gurinder Chadha’s Viceroy’s House, Lone Scherfig’s We Happy Few, Mick Jackson’s Denial and James Marsh’s The Mercy.